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Never tried this with a bike frame but in my (limited) experience lacquer does not play well with mirror polished Ali. A blasted/matted finish provides a much better base for adhesion. What grade sanding did you take it to before polishing? I don't think you should have scratches from the sandpaper left over. I'm looking into taking an Ali frame back to raw and once the paint has been stripped I will go down to 1200 grit before using something like a wire wool to get a more even matt finish.
TLDR: if you want mirror polished don't lacquer it and put aside a day a month to re-polish it.
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I'm also wondering this, chemically stripped a frame so nowhere near polished but don't know whether it needs protection
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I have some spray lacquer but not sure if it’s worth it. What do people think?
While it's technically possible to apply clear lacquer to polished aluminium to make reflectors which are durable when exposed to air, it's unlikely that you can do it at home. As jono says, if you want shiny, you're probably committing to frequent repolishing.
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jono84
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@DrDave
I’d appreciate a bit of advice. My old fixie frame (aluminium, nothing special, polished finish with clearcoat) was a bit of a mess, quite scratched and very ugly corrosion tracking under the lacquer. I have sanded off the old clearcoat and the scratches and have been polishing it back up. I have got it up to a good shine but not a perfect mirror finish - there are still some tiny scratches from the sandpaper, but it looks quite good I think. Current condition pictured below.
What I am trying to decide is whether to clearcoat it again. I have some spray lacquer but not sure if it’s worth it. What do people think? Does the lacquer over the top of a bare aluminium frame make much difference?
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